Jaguar Land Rover to cut prices of 3 models in China following probe

Jaguar Land Rover is planning to trim the prices of its three models -- Ranger Rover 5.0 V8, Ranger Rover Sport 5.0 V8 and Jaguar F-Type Cabriolet -- in China following the launch of the government's anti-monopoly probe.

Effective August 1, 2014, the models will their prices trimmed by an average of CHY200,000 ($32,300) starting Aug. 1, after the National Development and Reform Commission – particularly its Bureau of Price Supervision and Anti-Monopoly -- opened a probe into the auto industry.

Jaguar Land Rover said in a statement that because of the importance of China, the carmaker immediately set up a process to review its pricing, deciding to voluntarily cut the price of the models. The company added that the move will boost its competitiveness and hike its market share in China.

The Chinese auto industry is the latest to be eyed by local antitrust regulators, who have already impose penalties on companies in other sectors like milk powder and eye glasses over pricing.

Local and foreign media recently reported that NDRC is investigating foreign carmakers like Mercedes-Benz for possibly over-charging customers in China.

Nicholas Speeks, head of China sales at Mercedes-Benz, however remarked that he does not know of any NDRC investigations, but quipped that the NDRC had expressed some concerns.

The NDRC had said that it was obtaining evidence of possible anti-competitive behavior in vehicle and auto parts market in the country.